Bye Bye, Dear Lily E-Book

Sherry Moss Walraven

• Herausgeber: Proisle Publishing Services
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 322

Beschreibung

As four friends travel from Georgia to their final destination of Nashville, they wonder what their friend, who is already there, has for them to do during their visit. These lifelong friends love to laugh and have fun, so they can't wait to begin their weekend of fun and frolic. What the fun-loving friends didn't anticipate was a serial killer, who targets dark-haired women, being on the loose. After reading an article in the newspaper, they realize his last kill was in their home state of Georgia. It didn't worry them too much, because what were the odds of him traveling to the city where they would be for the weekend, right?

Leseprobe

Sherry Moss Walraven

© Copyright 2024 by Sherry Walraven

ISBN: 978-1-963735-44-5 (Paperback)978-1-963735-52-2 (E-book)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Prologue

As a tall broad-shouldered man lurked in a concrete parking deck watching gaily dressed people exit their cars and strolled the hard sidewalk toward the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, he waited for just the perfect woman to grace his path. If he was lucky, he’d find a dark-haired woman by herself. He couldn’t help but recollect the dark-haired woman only weeks before in Birmingham and the gratification he felt as he watched her gasp for each breath as he ever so slowly squeezed the long red scarf he had gently placed around her lily-white neck until all the breath left her withering body. Before leaving the inert woman, he had placed a long-stemmed yellow rose in her gaping mouth.

He was mulling over in his mind, why women couldn’t remain faithful and abide by the vows they pledged before God and their husbands. He felt it his duty in life to punish these intolerable women and make the world a better place. Thanks to his miserable excuse of a mother and his fallacious wife, he had become something he never in a million years thought he would be able to become, but all he had to think about, when doing what he must, was think of his dear Lily, and it gave him all the incentive he needed.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of waiting in a streaming car, he found what he had been looking for in a woman who had pulled into a parking space on the back side of the parking garage close to the Fox Theatre. As luck would have it, she was alone. She turned off the ignition and immediately picked up her cell phone and quickly punched in a number. With her window cracked, he was close enough to hear her speak to her friends in a soft Southern drawl. “Hey sweetie, I just pulled in the parking garage. Are y’all already inside? Good. I’ll be there in a jiffy. Bye. See you in a little while.”

He thought this was the most beneficial time before she got out of the car, to make his move. He slipped his hand in the pocket with the .38 he had snatched from his ex-mother-in-law and slowly crept to the passenger side of the woman’s small car. He gradually lifted the handle of the white Honda Civic, which was surprisingly unlocked. He thought she must not have been paying attention since she was apparently checking something on her cell phone. He quickly slid into the seat with the gun pointed at the wide-eyed, perplexed woman.

“If you try to get out of this car, little lady, I’ll put a bullet between your pretty blue-green eyes.” The look of panic on the woman’s face excited him more than he could have imagined. In his mind, life was good on this hot humid day in Atlanta.

She said with a startled voice, “Please don’t shoot me. I have a little money, and you can have it and the car if you’ll just let me go.” He could see the alarming look in her frightened eyes as she spoke, and that was to his advantage.

He smiled a crooked grin that made him look like the Devil himself and said, “I’m not here for your money or your car, sweetheart. I want you. Now listen to what I tell you. Drive out of the parking garage and turn left. I’ll give you directions as we go, and if you try to escape, or do anything out of the ordinary, I’ll shoot you right after I slit our pretty little throat. Now drive.”

They exited the semi-dark parking lot, and as they were driving down the streets of Atlanta, he thought about his not-so-loving beauty of a wife. Every time he thought of her, he felt a fiery rage that couldn’t be quenched until he got his hands on another dark-haired woman just like he did his unfaithful wife a couple months ago. He enjoyed seeing the blinding fear in her blue-green eyes as he slowly choked the life from her adulterous body, and he smiled as she drew her last breath. Each woman he had murdered since his wife gave him the same gratifying satisfaction. It was like killing his precious Lily again for what she put him through during their brief marriage.

He knew he was extremely fortunate to be convincing enough to fool the detectives, so they couldn’t find enough evidence to convict him of his wife’s murder. She had been choked with her own red scarf in their home in the suburbs. He played the loving husband to the hilt. Thank goodness he was sharp enough to cover his tracks as he had planned this for weeks before carrying out his dire plan to rid the world of another loose woman, right down to sending her favorite yellow roses two days before her death. The detectives finally decided it was a simple robbery gone badly. He knew luck was on his side during it all as they could find no evidence that he had committed this horrendous crime. Now he had found another dark-haired woman with blue-green eyes around the same lady’s eye color. That just happened to be in his favor, so he considered this his lucky day.

This crazed man had already found an abandoned building where he had broken a window and had left the locked door propped open with a rock, so he could take his latest victim back inside later. When they got in the antiquated building that was full of dust and broken furniture, he pushed her to a rugged chair that looked like it had seen better days but was sturdy enough to tie her down. Her escaping was not an option. He wasn’t extremely worried about this one escaping due to the small, thin structure of her body.

As the panic-stricken woman glanced around, she noticed an old wooden desk, which had a single yellow rose and a long red scarf lying in the middle. She knew in her heart that she would not be leaving this place alive.

After binding his victim to the rugged chair, he said, “Don’t worry, Lily, I’ll be right back. I’m going to take your car and dump it somewhere it won’t be seen. I won’t be too long, so it will do you no good to try to get away. Your mine now and no one can take you away from me.” The frightened woman began to sweat and had an extremely large sense of doom. She wondered if her friends had missed her yet.

He said all this after he tied her and the chair to a metal pole in the center of the dusty, dank room. Before leaving, he tied the red scarf from the table around her head as a gag to keep her from screaming. With that done, he left the fossilized building with a silly smile. Things seemed to be in his favor today. “Oh goody.”

The hopeless woman began thinking about the play she and her friends were supposed to see and wondered if they had missed her yet. She gazed around the discarded room but didn’t see anything she thought would do her any good to help her get away while he was gone. All she could think about was how she was afraid she would get lost when coming to the Fox. It seemed like Atlanta had a million streets with Peachtree in it: Peachtree Street, Peachtree Circle, Peachtree Drive, etc. Now that seemed the least of her worries. It was fast becoming a reality that she would not get out of this predicament. All she could do now was pray for God to take care of her family.

True to his word, her worst nightmare came back through the squeaking door. As it slammed shut, her heart fell into her stomach. She thought her heart might explode as it beat at an amazingly rapid rate. She watched as he strolled straight to her. He untied her from the chair, careful to leave her arms and feet tied, and laid her on the worm-eaten desk, tying her securely as she rolled about trying in vain to get away from this monster. He took the red scarf off her head and strategically tied it around her neck. At first, it was loose, but he gradually pulled it a little tighter as the seconds ticked by.

The homicidal man began talking in a diminutive voice as he gazed into the frightened eyes of his victim. “Be still, Lily, you, unfaithful woman. You’re going to get what’s coming to you.”

She began squirming and moving as much as was allowed due to her hands and feet being bound together. She didn’t know what he was talking about. He had to have gotten the wrong woman. My name is not Lily, and she couldn’t fathom doing anything bad enough to warrant what this creature had planned for her. She fought and fought but to no avail.

Finally, he had finished what he set out to accomplish. He watched and gave a sly grin until the last breath had left her adulterous body.

“Oh man, that was satisfying! I could do this a million times over to feel this gratifying sensation. It’s like giving Lily what she deserved over and over.”

Before exiting the abandoned building, he gave a smirk at the lifeless lady, gently sticking a yellow rose in her breathless mouth as he said, “Bye, Dear Lily.

Chapter One

The sizzling summer sun shone brightly on the hot pavement as four friends from North Georgia traveled Interstate 24 with Nashville as their destination. They were meeting another of their friends who was already in Nashville working at a carpet market. After she was finished, all the friends would spend a couple of days together having fun and seeing the sights before going back to their regular routines and various jobs.

They had all been friends for what seemed like forever, and they enjoyed going on the occasional trip to get away for some relaxation and fun. Even though they all had various backgrounds, they got along extremely well. They all agreed this weekend was exactly what was needed to clear their cluttered minds from work. Although they had dissimilar occupations and backgrounds, they made the perfect combination of friends.

Susie at the age of ten, had been lost in the woods overnight all alone. She was outside playing and spotted a soft, furry rabbit she just had to have for her pet. The rabbit, having a different idea, began hopping away from her, and of course, Susie ran after her future pet. Her parents, after searching all night, found the lost girl the following morning huddled against a tall oak tree with tears streaming down her dirty face, her dark hair extremely tangled. She doesn’t think of it too often anymore, or maybe every now and then, if she is stressed.

Kaley, after her parents died in a tragic car accident, was raised by her aunt, who wasn’t exactly the motherly type, so Kaley basically raised herself which made her tougher and somewhat more outspoken than most her age, but she seemed to fit in with the others without any problem.

Overall, they were a normal as everyone else now that they had traveled into adulthood. The rest of the girls had their little quirks like Cindy being afraid of everything that jiggled. Other than being afraid, she was married to a great man, and they have four children from ages twelve down to six. This was substantial get-away for Cindy.

Sara was man-crazy, but she still fit in with the others who were married and have kids. The one thing they all had in common was the fact that they liked to get away on occasion and have fun with their friends.

Susie was driving while Cindy, who had a tendency for car sickness, was perched in the shotgun seat with Sara and Kaley in the back seat. Susie was a good driver, but often had bouts of road rage. It wasn’t too bad, although she really didn’t like for anyone to get in front of her. She had a habit of driving a little too fast, but overall, they usually got to their destination in one peace without incident.

Sara, who was sound asleep in the back, was instantly awakened by Susie’s honking of her horn and hollering, “Get over minivan! You are not supposed to ride over here.” Sara jumped like a jackrabbit due to Susie and road rage.

After Sara realized what had happened, she said, “Oh my gosh, Susie. You woke me up for a minivan alert?”

“Sorry. I know I said I was going try harder, and I promise I’ll start right now.” Susie sounded sincere, but everyone where they lived including the deputies, knew that Susie was an extremely impatient driver. The good thing about Susie was that she usually got the girls to their destination in record time.

Susie really was an awesome person, but she had a few problems when she drove a car. There also was the event about her being lost in the woods as a child. That pretty much didn’t bother her anymore, although she did keep a close eye on her own children. She figured the therapy help her to overcome it.

“Hey, I’m hungry. Let’s get some lunch at a drive-through and stop at a picnic table somewhere to eat. It’s a pretty day and not drastically hot. It might be fun.” Cindy’s suggestion was met with enthusiasm from the rest of the crew, so they began searching for a fast-food establishment.

After attaining some burgers, fries, and soft drinks, the girls quickly found a picnic table in what seemed to be some sort of park. There were several cars with a group of people under the larger pavilion that had music radiating from all sides, which made your heart pound with the beat of the music. It sounded great, so they stopped the car close to the music. Luck was with them as there were several concrete tables nearby.

They noticed a nice-looking couple sitting at one of the hard tables by themselves when they got out of the car. When the lovely lady with the pretty red hair saw them, she said, “Why don’t you girls sit with us? We’d love to have the company.”

“Why thank you. That’s so sweet.” Cindy was already spreading out everyone’s food on the table before she got out all the words out of her mouth. That was Cindy for you, always doing things before thinking about them first.

“Where are you from?” Kaley asked with a smile. She was always a little cautious of everyone at first, but later warmed up to them like the rest. Between all the little quirks the friends had, they seemed to be the perfect combination of friends.

“We’re Martin and Fancy, and we live in Texas. You sound like you might be from Georgia.” This came from the smiling man named Martin. Apparently, Martin and Fancy liked to be around people, and if that was true, they picked the right ones for company, because these girls liked meeting new people as much as they did.

“Yes Sir, You’re right. We are around fifty-five miles north of Kennesaw. What are you two doing up this way? You are far away from home.” Susie said this as she scooted on the seat next to Fancy.

“We’re on our way to Nashville for Martin’s Nuts & Bolts Convention before going back to Texas,” Fancy said in a sweet voice.

“Fancy, why don’t you hang out with us while Martin’s at his Convention? We don’t know exactly what we’ll be doing yet, but we always have fun no matter where we go. Please do.” Fancy could tell that Susie’s invitation was sincere, so she accepted. After all, it was much better than sitting in a stuffy hotel room for the rest of their stay in Nashville. “Besides, it might be fun.”

“Good, let’s eat.” Sara was one of those who could eat like a lumberjack and not gain an ounce. It was depressing to her friends, who had to watch their intake of the calories they put into their bodies. On this trip, no one was going to count calories. All they wanted was some mind-clearing fun.

While Susie and Fancy were exchanging cell phone numbers, Cindy said, “Look. There’s a man sitting over there all by himself. I’m going to ask him if he wants to sit with us.” Cindy was already over there before Sara had a chance to say anything.

“My gracious, that girl would invite the boogie man over if you let her. That man could be an ax murderer or worse, a serial killer,” Kaley said this as Cindy and her man were walking back over to their table. Cindy was looking for all the world to see that she was excited to be on a picnic with friends. The strange man had yet to crack a smile and looked like he was walking to his execution. The man turned out to be OK, but he didn’t say much, mostly just listened. He had beady eyes, dirty blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, and never smiled, but at least it didn’t look like he had an ax in his pocket. That was a plus. Kaley kept her eye on him in a discreet way to make sure Cindy’s friend wasn’t a serial killer.

While everyone listened to the boisterous music, the weird man sat there and never cracked a smile. The music at the pavilion next to them sounded excellent, and some of the people were dancing. It was a regular hoedown and very entertaining to watch. The friends decided it must have been a family reunion, which was weird because of it being the middle of a weekday, but they had certainly seen stranger things.

After eating, Sara said she would be right back because of the three bottles of water she had guzzled while eating, she needed to make a little trip to the outhouse. When she left, they all watched and commented on the people dancing between the tables. It was kind of funny, and they seemed to be having fun. The girls never said anything when people were having fun, because fun was their favorite past time.

In a few minutes, a rather large specimen with huge arms and a smile as big as the Grand Canyon waddled over and introduced himself as Bubba. Bubba wasn’t fat, he was just big as a rock-hard grizzly. He asked loudly, “Where’s ‘Sweet Thang’? Bubba wants to dance. I hope she didn’t leave. She’s shore purdy. Bubba’s not too late, is he?” Bubba may have looked like a double-wide, but he seemed harmless on the surface, kind of like a big ole teddy bear.

It took them a minute to digest all they had just heard, because people where they live do not refer to themselves in the third person. Kaley didn’t seem to be having quite as much trouble as the rest of them. “Oh, you mean, Sara? Sweet Thang went to the bathroom, but she will be back, and I’m sure she wouldn’t want to miss this for the world. She really likes to dance. You wait right here by us, Mr. Bubba.” Kaley sat back with a sneaky grin on her face. You could tell she was already enjoying this way too much. She knew they would never let Sara live this one down, because they never missed a chance to tease the others and never let them forget an incident, and this incident surely had the makings of a Kodak moment.

Fancy was sniggering in her napkin, while the others were hiding grins behind their hands. Martin, who didn’t mind in the least being with a group of women, just sat there with an ample smile on his face while Cindy’s friend sat there with the same sour expression on his rugged face as Susie said, “You know that Sara is going to kill you, don’t you?” As Susie said this, Cindy’s man friend had a look of panic on his face. He must have known the word ’Kill’ in this case didn’t mean to really kill someone.

Susie had no more than had that out of her mouth when they saw Sara walking back to their table. Mr. Bubba apparently couldn’t wait one more minute, because he went over to Sara and said, “Sweet Thang, Bubba wants to dance.”

Bubba immediately, without waiting for Sara’s acceptance, picked her up and threw her over his monstrosity of a shoulder and took her past their table with her wailing for help the entire trip to the concrete dance floor. Usually, the girls would have helped her right away, but they were laughing so hard, they had to get themselves under control first. The air was filled with an assemblage of feelings from the friends at the table who watched their friend whirl about the dance floor with Bubba.

While Mr. Bubba slung Sara around what was supposed to be a dance floor, the rest of the group sat staring with mouths wide open. Sara had a shocked look on her face that was priceless. This was turning out to be the most entertaining lunch they had eaten in quite a while. Most likely Sara did not agree with her being their entertainment for the lunch they had ever had, but rather thought it was a nonsensical one. All the commotion didn’t stop Susie from taking candid pictures of Sara’s little adventure.

“Isn’t that about the ugliest shirt you have ever seen that Bubba is wearing? I wouldn’t even begin to know what shade of green that would be. “Everyone looked at Cindy as she said this with a look of wonder on their faces, wondering how she could even begin to think of a like fashion in this circumstance, but that was Cindy’s personality. They never knew which way the wind was going to blow with her.

Kaley smiled at the others and said in her best Southern drawl, “That color kind of makes him look like a big ole swamp frog, doesn’t it?”

Colorful Kaley could always make them laugh with her ways of describing a situation, but in this case, she was right on target.

Martin, bless his heart, said, “You think I should go rescue her? I know he’s huge, but I know a few tricks.”

“No, unless he tries to take her away in his car, she should be fine. He seemed harmless enough. We’ll just keep an eye on her,” Kaley said this with a smile on her face that was brighter than the North Star. Kaley could be ruthless when needed. Her childhood had really toughened her up, but she’s the one someone would want on their side in a crisis.

Of course, if he had been up to no good, they would have been right on it like flees on grandpa’s old hound dog, but by that time, Bubba had set her down and was holding on to her for dear life, dancing her around the floor. She looked like one of those limp Raggedy Ann dolls with her feet barely toughing the floor during her sojourn around the concrete slab. They just danced around and through the tables like everyone else, except Sara had this wild expression on her face like she thought the world was ending. They all would never hear the song “Achy Breaky Heart” again without thinking of this little adventure with Bubba.

Kaley looked at the others through her tears of laughter and said, “I really need to go to the bathroom, but I’m afraid I’ll miss the big finale.”

Thank goodness for Sara, the song finally ended, and Bubba picked her up with one arm around her shoulders and the other arm under her knees like she weighed no more than a gnat and brought her back and sat her down in her chair. They couldn’t figure out if he thought she was a paraplegic and couldn’t walk, or if he did this sort of thing quite often. She probably couldn’t walk after this little episode, for sure. Of course, they were still laughing so hard they could barely speak. Cindy had her head down on the table because she was laughing so hard. Most everyone else had huge tears rolling down their red cheeks. They could tell that Sara was getting a little perturbed with them, but it couldn’t be helped.

After everyone took a potty break, they made sure that Martin and Fancy knew how to get in touch with them when they arrived in Nashville. The girls couldn’t wait to reach their destination and tell Bell all about their little picnic, because as far as picnics goes, it was truly a great story to tell and was a picnic to remember.

As they left their table, they heard someone choking in a bad way. It was Cindy’s new lunch buddy. Someone had to do something and quickly because the choking man couldn’t get his breath at all. They all turned and looked to see what was happening.

“Quick, he needs help. I think he just passed out. Does anyone know CPR?” Susie asked excitedly. She couldn’t imagine putting her mouth over the mouth of a possible killer or whatever he may be.

The jury was still out on Cindy’s lunch friend. That left them with a completely different kind of feeling. They still didn’t know if he could be a killer or not.

Martin spoke up, “I do.”

Before Martin reached the man, Cindy had already gotten to the body. What they saw just might be etched in their memory forever. Cindy had reached down and took the man by the belt as he lay on the ground on his back and was picking him up and down by the belt. This really got everyone’s mouth open this time, but not in a good way.

Martin seemed to be in shock before he approached Cindy, “What in the blue blazes are you doing, woman?” Martin seemed a touch concerned about Cindy’s unorthodox method of CPR.

Cindy stopped and looked at Martin, “I’m trying to help the man breathe. I saw Ben Johnson do it to Clint Eastwood in an old Western, and it worked for Clint,” Cindy stated in a matter-of-fact manner as she backed slowly away from the man in need.

Martin pushed Cindy aside and began to do real CPR until the lunch friend came around.

The man looked at Martin and said, “Thanks man, I appreciate it. I feel a little like I’ve been beat half to death, but I’m fine now. Thanks for everyone being nice to me.”

The girls at the table couldn’t help but worry about their mysterious visitor who wasn’t very vocal. Could it be that he was an unsavory man who committed crimes against people, or just women? They couldn’t wait to reach Nashville and be far away from their peculiar lunch guest. What a lunch this turned out to be! They just wanted to get to Nashville and meet up with Bell, so life could get back to normal.

Chapter Two

When the peculiar lunch guest got to his car, he turned back around and gazed at the carefree people he had lunch with and wondered why the lady had ask him to sit with them. Few people where he came from would do that. They didn’t know him, and he could have been anybody who may be up to no good. The man studied each one of the faces as he ate the small size burger, he had picked up at the last truck stop. He thought they had different personalities, but they seemed like they were best friends. He would have to think some more before he could assume as to what their backgrounds would be.

Leaving Atlanta was a beneficial decision, but he still had some thinking to do. Just like the girls at lunch, he’d had a good friend, and it was his wife. She was from a different background than his, but she changed over the years. She worked late every night and their talks had become a thing of the past. No use thinking about what happened with her. It would only make him sad again, and he had work to do and couldn’t let that happen. His work was important to him, and he knew it really benefited people.

Chapter Three

After springing back in the car, Sara didn’t fall asleep like she did before lunch. The little dancing adventure had somewhat kept her from sleeping. Even she was laughing about it now that it was all said and done. Kaley was never much of one for letting things go gracefully, so she told Sara, “Wow, Sara, you did some fancy footwork back there. You looked like a real pro out there, girl. Maybe, you should quit your day job and take up dancing.”

Susie, who was maintaining a mammoth grin, had to get in on the action too. “Yep, you glided so gracefully that your feet seemed to never touch the floor.”

“We can change the subject now if you lovely ladies want to. Surely, there is something more entertaining than my Bubba incident.” Sara was keeping her smile, and she thought it was extremely funny, but she would let them have their fun. She knew they were teasing her, and she would be a good sport about it all.

“Hey, how did you like our new friends from Texas? I thought they were nice,” Susie says changing the subject. The couple had seemed liked they enjoyed having as much fun as the group of girls did, and this happy group’s middle name was fun.

“Yes, they were nice, but what about the weird man? I don’t know what made me do that, but all’s well that ends well, and everyone seems to have all their body parts,” Cindy says to her friends. She sounded like she had apparently forgotten that she was the one who was eager to invite him to lunch. They all hoped Cindy’s big heart didn’t get them in trouble, but they were determined not to think about that, because there was fun to be had and troubles to be forgotten.

“I know you felt sorry for him, Cindy, but he could have been a robber or worse. I know you have a super big heart, but you need to be more attentive to the surroundings. At least, he’s not dead right now, thanks to Martin,” Susie said with caution in her voice. She did have her own way of doing things and had a tender spot in her heart for everybody she met.

Cindy replied with remorse, “I know I’ll be more careful next time. He didn’t even tell us his name, did he? I wonder where he came from and what he was doing around here. Did anyone see what car he got into when we left and what state his tag said or anything?” These were all good questions, so maybe Cindy should have thought of them before inviting a stranger to lunch, but that was in the past and better left forgotten.

No one seemed to have paid him much attention when they left except Susie. At least, one person in the group was keeping an eye out of where they were and who was around. “I noticed that he drove an older model light blue Saturn. At least, I think it was.”

“All I know is that the man was weirder than a polecat on steroids.” This came from Kaley, who truly had a way with words.

“That’s enough talk of weird old men. Are we there yet?” Cindy sat still as she checked her fingernails, looking completely bored with the entire conversation.

“It won’t be too much further. We are almost there.” Susie was probably the only one paying attention since she was driving. She thought the others were missing out on the scenic drive as they chatted away.

“Good. I’m ready to get there.” Kaley said as she wiggled in her seat impatiently. “I’m tired of sitting in this car. I need to walk and get the crick out of my butt.

******

As the girls were entering the outskirts of Nashville, Susie looked in the rearview mirror and asked, “Kaley, you look very intense back there with that newspaper. There must be something pretty good in that paper.”

Kaley replied without looking up from her paper, “Do you remember hearing around a month or so ago of that woman who was murdered outside of Birmingham?”

“Yes, I remember, and it was gruesome. She was strangled and then someone put a yellow rose in her mouth. Oooh! Cindy said in a trembling voice. They all had to agree with Cindy on that one.

“They never found out who did that, did they?” Sara said this with a slight shiver, as it was not a pleasant conversation to have.

Kaley finally looked up from her reading and said, “No, they never did, and you won’t believe this article. It’s happened again in Atlanta.

Cindy looked at Kaley with a spooked look in her eyes and said, “What’s happened again? Tell us.”

“Don’t get your panties in a wad, Lulu. “I’ll tell you.” Kaley was always the most verbal, so she continued, “There’s been a conclusion made that is just like the one in Birmingham, and Atlanta this time. Listen to this:

Atlanta Police Department were called to a site yesterday afternoon where a young woman was found murdered in an abandoned warehouse. The body was discovered by two teenage boys who were throwing rocks at the time-worn building, which resulted in a broken window. When looking inside the broken window, the youths found the body of Samantha Mahoney, age twenty-eight of Ackworth, Georgia, who was meeting friends at the Fox Theatre. It is thought she may have been taken at a nearby parking garage. Her friends stated that she called them from the parking garage saying she would see them shortly.

Atlanta Police, after conferring with the Birmingham Police Department, believe this murder to have been committed by the same person from the Birmingham incident. Both victims were strangled with a red scarf and had a yellow rose placed in her mouth. Both victims had dark hair and blue eyes. There are no other leads at this time.

“Oh man, we live just an hour and half from Atlanta. That’s a little too close to home for my comfort,” Sara said with an extreme look of concern on her face. No one in this happy group wanted to think there might be a serial killer close by, but they figured there were all sorts of places a killer could go besides being where they were going.

“You probably don’t have anything to worry about, girl. It appears he looks for dark-haired women. Your blonde hair probably makes you safer than poor Susie sitting there with all that long dark hair.” Kaley said this with a huge smile. She was at it again.

“Gee thanks, spoilsport. You know how to make a girl feel safe and secure,” Susie said with a small grin. Susie usually didn’t let strange things bother her. Overall, she was a strong person in most circumstances. This incident made them all somewhat agitated since it was so close to home, but no one would show it to the others. At least, they were not in Georgia now, so they should be okay.

Cindy patted Susie on the shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, honey. I’ll protect you.”

The others had to stifle a giggle when she said this, because everyone knew that if something was going to happen that Cindy would be running for the high country. All her friends knew how cowardly she was of almost everything on God’s green Earth, but they loved her anyway. But, to her credit, she had spells where she came through when you really needed her.

After all the chatter of a man who murders dark-haired women, the girls were in Nashville before they even knew what happened. Since Susie was driving, she noticed their change in location before the others. “We’re in Nashville, ladies. Somebody, call Bell and see where she wants us to meet her.”

“I’m on it,” Cindy said, who was almost jumping up and down with excitement. It really didn’t take very much to get these ladies excited about a girl’s weekend trip. Getting away from their jobs on occasion gave the girl a break from their hectic lives.

Kaley looked over at Sara, who was sitting beside her and said, “You already had your intensity level boosted today, haven’t you, Dancing Queen? I bet you’ll have a sweet dream all night long with Bubba as the star player.”

“More like nightmares,” Sara didn’t really mind Kaley’s teasing, and everyone had to admit that it was funny. She knew she sure wouldn’t have trouble remembering that fiasco.

Susie asked Cindy, “What did Bell say?”

“She said to meet her at the hotel, and that we were invited to the Wild Hog tonight for a reception upstairs with the big carpet company she works for. Some way she wrangled us an invitation and got us a name tag to attend the buffet supper her company was paying for, so don’t let oh like you don’t work there.” Cindy was really excited now.

Susie smiled, “Sounds good. Let’s go meet Bell. WE have already had our excitement for this trip, so now we can enjoy our visit.”